moments of gold, flashes of light
by prettypinklips
Summary: This hero thing was harder than he'd thought it would be. -— damon/caroline.


**moments of gold, flashes of light**

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—

He throws Jules aside with a simple flick of his wrist, tears her cage open, cups her face and turns it to him, "Caroline," he gives her a good shake, "what words do we spit in Death's face when he comes calling for us?" he asks, something like urgency lacing his voice. She internally snorts, he doesn't care about her. Only cares about how Elena will react to her death.

"I don't know." she croaks, spitting out a wooden bullet, eyelids drooping.

Damon's fingers brush her hair from her face, "We say 'not today'."

"Not today." Caroline repeats tiredly, wearily, "Not today." she slips into unconsciousness, but somehow, she feels him scooping her up into his arms and carrying her to safety.'

—

"Daddy," she croaks, tugging at her restraints. The sun burns hot against her back, and she can feel her skin charring and burning off, "Daddy, _don't._" she begs, a sharp squeal escaping her lips as he lifts the window covering a little higher, exposing her whole back to the sun.

Suddenly, before she even senses them, the door bursts open, flies off of its hinges and hits the wall. Damon strides it, inexplicable rage on his face, and her mother follows. Damon grips Bill by the throat, lifts him high, and tosses him away. Her mom trains the gun she's holding on her father, and a sigh of relief escapes Caroline's lips.

Damon's in front of her then, sliding her ring onto her finger, "What do we say when we're staring Death in the face?" he asks, lifting her chin till she's looking him in the eye.

"Not today." she tiredly slurs.

"Not today." Damon repeats. Her mother tears her chains away, and he scoops her up like he had so many months ago, cradling her to his chest. She falls asleep in the crook of his neck, feeling safer than she has in a long time.

—

"Seriously, Caroline, I'm getting tired of having to come to your rescue." Damon sighs, shoving his fist into the chest of Mystic Falls' self-declared vampire hunter of the week. He yanks his heart out, kicks the gun loaded with wooden bullets away, and grips the 'hunter's' arm, bending it back at the elbow. The hunter keens sharply, and Damon rolls his eyes, turning to look at Caroline.

Caroline growls from her cage, "Then _stop_ saving me. I had it all under control." she spits, glaring at him. She doesn't know why she's mad at him, but she is, okay? She was totally about to bust out of the cage and take care of the hunter before he'd shown up. Totally.

Damon pauses, his hands still ripping limbs off of the vampire hunter's body, and gives her a disbelieving look. "Right." he concedes, sarcasm lacing his words. He drops the body and tears her cage open, reaching in and yanking her out.

She's woozy, the world spinning in front of her. Only Damon's face is in focus. He holds her steady, and she asks, "What? You're not gonna say it?"

Damon's face blurs, his hands melding to her arms even tighter as she sways. Wood chips ooze from the bullet holes in her stomach. "Blondie?" he questions.

She falls forward, catching the collar of his shirt and whispering, "Not today."

—

She wakes up four hours later, in his bed, curled in his sheets, stomach free of bullets.

A note on the pillow beside her reads: "Not today."

—

"If you're tired of saving me," Caroline hisses, batting Damon's hands away. She rips the thin stake from her thigh, hurls it as hard as she can at the werewolf who's cornered her in the alley behind the Grille. This is the last time she's taking trash out for Matt, she thinks, and walks away, furious, because she's always the one being captured and tortured, "then _quit._"

Damon sighs. "I can't." he says, following her, "Witchy would have my head, Elena would cry out an entire ocean, and Stefan would pout for a century."

Caroline whirls around, "So you don't save me because you want to." she states, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I didn't say that." he counters, expression darkening.

Caroline looks down, tears hanging from her lashes, "You didn't have to." she whispers, vanishing.

Damon kicks an empty trash can, growling. This hero thing was harder than he'd thought it would be. Especially since he's banking on her getting captured again within the next week so he can talk to her.

(He's making this exceedingly more difficult than it needs to be.)

—

"Damon?" Caroline breathes, "Damon, wake up." she lifts his head into her lap, brushes dirt and leaves from his hair, and shakes him.

A stake protrudes from his chest, and the punk hunter who'd staked him and fled with his friends had better be out of Mystic Falls before nightfall. She nudges the stake, whimpers, and prays it hasn't touched his heart. She grips the stake as hard as she can, and yanks.

It comes free, and she tosses it away. It had missed his heart by half an inch, and she breathes out a sigh of relief, "Come on," she shakes him again, "you rescue me, not the other way around."

A gust of air crashes out of his lungs, and his eyes snap open, "Ow." he coughs, rubbing the spot on his chest where the stake had pierced him. He looks up at her, "Not today?" he croaks.

Caroline laughs through her tears, and a droplet lands on his cheek, "Not today." she agrees, pressing her forehead to his.

_fin._


End file.
